Does Flying Backward on United Make it Better? I Still Don’t Know.

But I’m Not Tired!

Lie-flat seating is nice but when you’re up, you’re up. These seats unfold into nap-worthy beds but I’m happy to recline and watch TV… and maybe attempt to get some work done.

I chose 1G well in advance of the flight so that I wouldn’t end up in one of the rear-facing seats in this cabin. I’m not sure why it freaks me out to fly backwards but it does. Maybe it’s that I’m a grown (old) man with no desire to ride like my kids in their car seats.

In my day, we sat face-forward in the FRONT.

United Transcon Bedding provided by Saks Fifth Avenue

Meh-ntertainment.

Personal TV’s were stocked with standard handfuls of movies and 3-packs of sitcoms. What shows do YOU only watch on planes?

Me? Veep & Big Bang Theory.

Wi-Flunk.

This flight was dominated by spinning wait-wheels. Clearly, the plane was configured with older wi-fi so it may not be fair to curse it’s usability while the airline works to install new systems. But it was bad bad bad sloooooow.

United’s Welcome Aboard. Bring the food!!!

It’s a Small Pie Made With Eggs.

Quiche seemed the most appealing of all breakfast foods on the menu. Slightly above edible I liked the crust quite a bit. The middle was typical in-flight egg loaf.

Best Service I’ve had on United in FOREVER.

I don’t want to play this up too much, but something must be happening at United. Flight attendants seemed genuinely happy to be there, or at least not mad. The entire crew was reliably smiley and helpful throughout.

I’ve flown backwards on UA more times that I can remember and the only time I ever really notice it is when we’re taxiing out for take off and even then if I’ve already started watching a movie I’ll completely forget what’s happening. So while I don’t mind it at all I’ve seen some ppl lose their minds about it. I actually volunteered to switch with a guy on ORD-HKG because he wouldn’t stop whining about it before the door was even closed. He didn’t evensay thank you but the GS agent made sure the FAs took care of me. Anyways, it’s no big deal at all. If anything I think it’s good because it allowed them to squeeze in extra business class seats and I’m sure without them some of my upgrades wouldn’t have cleared and I’d be in the back.